Ric Porter Band plays twangy tunes and classic rock ‘n’ roll

“There’s a lot of love in this band,” gushed Ric Porter as the band members tuned up and tweaked their instruments behind him. Show time for the Ric Porter Band was in about 15 minutes as we spoke on a recent Friday night at the Blue Plate Lounge in Holden. “None of us have a big name and we have nothing to prove. You get to a point where all that’s left to do is go back and play the stuff you love.”

“There’s a lot of love in this band,” gushed Ric Porter as the band members tuned up and tweaked their instruments behind him. Show time for the Ric Porter Band was in about 15 minutes as we spoke on a recent Friday night at the Blue Plate Lounge in Holden. “None of us have a big name and we have nothing to prove. You get to a point where all that’s left to do is go back and play the stuff you love.” Porter, 63 years young, is one of the founding members of the legendary Zonkaraz, so yes, he has nothing to prove. After staying away from the stage for quite a while, Porter reemerged in 2010 with this new band, which has gone through a few personnel changes, and now has settled back into the original lineup, guitarist Bob Sarkala, bassist Peter Allard and drummer Michael Allard-Madaus.

Ric joined his band mates on the the Blue Plate Lounge stage, and the band showed its solidity early as Porter soulfully sang “Everything Is Broken,” the first of many Bob Dylan songs performed throughout the evening. The Allard brothers played as one, and Sarkala sprinkled guitar energy between the singing lines. Porter, like Dylan, is a prolific songwriter, so many of the selections are his own, including some Zonkaraz classics. One of those is “Fishin’,” a fan favorite that he introduced with the crack, “Some songs you just get stuck with!” North Worcester County is Porter’s loving ode to a place near to his heart. After another Zonkaraz fave, “Camp House,” Sarkala stepped up to the mic for some Albert King-style blues, with “Cross Cut Saw,” ripping some nice blues leads in the process. The first set crescendoed to an impressive end, first with Porter’s beautiful song for the late Valerie Crockett, followed by the simple but soulful twostep, “Lay Down Your Love,” ending with the explosive “Hole In Your Soul,” which found the unassuming Sarkala stepping up and playing a blistering solo to close things out.

It is apparent that Ric Porter and his band mates have embraced a style of playing that is not over-rehearsed. “I was in a lot of bands that were pretty rigid, but with this band, it’s pretty loose,” Porter told me. “It’s all about having fun.” The song endings sort of happen organically, and the arrangements are a bit flexible. Although the music has a backdrop of twangy tunes with a bit of a Zonkaraz feel, the Ric Porter Band also rocks hard, especially when doing old rock ’n’ roll classics, like “Little Sister,” “Red Hot” and “Lucille.” Porter seems genuinely happy to just kick back and do what he loves best, and it shows.